The Indiana Fever took on the Connecticut Suns last weekend, and it was one where sparks flew as Sophie Cunningham stepped up for her teammate, Caitlin Clark, when she picked up a flagrant foul for trading blows with Jacy Sheldon.
Known as Clark’s bodyguard, Sophie Cunningham made it known not to mess with the Indiana Fever star player as Sheldon had poked the Fever Guard’s eye, which led to shoves, ending eventually with Clark on the floor.
“So, at the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates.” Cunningham said.
Sophie Cunningham need not use words to convey her own feelings when, by the later stage of the game, an opportunity came for her. As Sheldon was trying to drive in, Sophie nabbed Jacy by the head and pulled her down. Sheldon and fellow Sun guard Lindsay Allen didn’t think twice to send a response.
What followed was plenty of words, hair grabbing, shoving, and taking the fight into the courtside seats as it escalated with most of the players from both sides getting involved.
Long-time Lakers fan, Rapper, and pop icon, Ice Cube, was loving the passion and energy in full display. In his interview with The Breakfast Club
“I love trash talking. I know it was gonna get chippy when they kind of started touching each other,” Cube said. “That day it happened in the WNBA with two white girls. So, it happens, its when you know that the passion is there, guys want to win.” (Timestamp: 2:09)
He goes on to add that the brawl is comparable to the “pleasantries” exchanged by Dwight Howard and Lance Stevenson.
Coach has Sophie Cunningham’s Back
Indiana Fever’s coach, Stephanie White, was indirectly supporting Sophie Cunningham’s actions as she sees there is a fundamental problem with the officials protecting the players.
“When you allow them to play physical and you allow these things to happen, they’re gonna compete,” she continued. “And they’re gonna have their teammates’ backs. It’s exactly what you expect out of fierce competition.” White said.
The same sentiments were echoed by Sophie Cunningham as having your teammate’s backs puts a lot of value to the connection and solidarity of the team.
“At the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates, that’s what I do. And I’m a team player so, it’s all good.” says Sophie Cunningham
Indiana Fevers currently rank 7th at the time of writing and are slated to face Seattle Storm.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
